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As we approach the end of 2017, small business owners are looking back on the previous year and preparing for the next. In both situations, auditing your
financial practices should be a vital addition to your task list. Knowing the financial health of your company influences the key decisions that you
and your team will make in the coming months. This practical process also helps identify financial management practices that seem ineffective or even
obsolete.

Let's discuss a few ways to efficiently audit your small business practices.

- Designate and delegate: Knowing what your team members and company use for various processes and transactions helps keep everyone accountable.
Designate items such as a company credit card, a company bank account, a specific financial record-keeping software (Quickbooks, Freshbooks) and a
designated financial "point person" (don't hesitate to add this person to your staff if need be).

- Plan, budget and execute: Your business accrues a lot of unexpected expenses some years, but for the most part, your team can figure
out the common items for which you need to designate funds as well as sections of the budget that can be eliminated or cut back. Seek out expert information
on vendors and item costs before making any decisions that could waste money for more important endeavors.

- Provide financial management updates through weekly or monthly meetings: Obviously, your time as a small business owner should not be
bogged down with all-day meetings, but a weekly or monthly financial management meeting is a crucial investment for your company. Choose the specific
members for the meetings and optimize your time by keeping things short and having a designated agenda to review and push forward. Look at key metrics
such as profit and loss statement reviews and balance report analysis.

- Set measurable goals and review progress: Objectives, goals, targets. Whatever your company's lexicon, what you plan for is something
you need to be sure you can measure. Sales and marketing departments will most likely make up this responsibility, but be sure to keep everyone else
in the company aware of what you want the company to accomplish and the progress that your team makes. For sales processes, pipelines and guidelines,
be sure to have ample documentation that can be access at all times.

In need of some further tips or advice? Email leijun@campbellbusinessservices.com

This past Wednesday, June 21st, marked the first day of summer. Activity in your work or home office may have slowed down for the season, but this
slight lull could be the perfect opportunity to review your company's progress for the first half of 2017 as well as refine your plans for the
rest of the year.

Your financial management, in particular, should always be checked, measured, analyzed and refined. We will give you a few of the most crucial items
to include on your midyear checklist. Keep reading for more information and be sure to let us know what you would add!

1. Check your prepared budget against your current spending: "Budget" may be one of the least liked, yet most important words in the
business lexicon. Your business cannot survive without the creation of a budget and also the fulfillment of a budget. Bring up the documents you
created at the beginning of 2017 or end of 2016 and cross-examine each category and item with what you actually spent on said items. If you're
on your way to healthy year-end profit and positive cash flow, celebrate and keep pushing forward. If not, grab all of your head staff and determine
what areas of spending can be cut or reduced. You still have a little over six months to turn things around, but no use in waiting.

2. Check your balance sheet for any missing or uncollected payments: If you are a solopreneur or small business owner, you are constantly
being thrown new information about vendors and clients. Without proper systems in place for payables, receivables, bills and invoices, you can
miss crucial payments and deadlines. Take time this last week of June to catch up on your balance sheets and income statements. Don't stop until
each document is properly filled and all payments are made and received.

3. Make sure your tax documents are correct for all aspects of your business: We're just two months out of the dreaded tax season,
but you cannot go wrong by trying to prepare for next year. You want to make sure no stone is left unturned with this side of financial management.
Though some of you may hire an outside tax accountant for those first few months of each year, consider bringing one in for this next week just
to audit your books and make sure everything is on track. You'll breathe easier knowing you have a rock-solid vision and strategy for the rest
of 2017

Other important items for your midyear financial management checklist:

- Job-cost reports

- Estimates versus actuals details

- Profit/loss actuals

- Sales and marketing goals

- Customer satisfaction ratings

For more information on financial management, please email us today at leijun@campbellbusinessservices.com!

We want to give you something to look forward to every week, so starting today, we are unleashing our Financial Friday series that will feature a mix of blogs, infographics and more. Keep reading for the first post!

The four practical processes we advocate at Campbell Business Services are financial management, operations management, talent management and sales and
marketing management. Today, we want to delve a little deeper into that first process with a look at cash flow.

We'll define cash flow as "the net amount of money that comes and goes out of a business during a particular period." The positive cash flow occurs when
a business has more cash at the end of a period than at the beginning. The flip side would be to have less cash at the end of a period, indicating
a negative cash flow.

Obviously, all of us would love a positive cash at the end of each period. However, with your many responsibilities as a small business owner, you may
have a tough time establishing and maintaining a positive cash flow.

Here are a few tips for achieving this financial management goal:

1. Find ways to cut, or at least reduce, your major expenses: It's hard to maintain this objective in our personal finances, let alone
for our businesses. Though this process will always be easier said than done, you must figure out at least a few items to focus on that could greatly
impact your cash flow. Budget as much as you can each month (of course, there will be emergencies here and there). If you find a similar vendor who
can reliably provide you the same product or supplies at a more affordable, consider that option and weigh out the pros and cons on budget sheet. Results
will be small when you first start this process; however, continue to refine your process until you begin seeing the impact on your cash flow that
you need.

2. Get cash faster from customers, clients and receivables: No business wants to feel like they are a collection agency, but no business
wants to be bankrupt either. Before entering agreements with customers and clients, be sure to define your payment requirements and deadlines by sending
out invoices as soon as possible. You can even include a percentage discount, or incentive, for clients who pay off their debt early. This process
will also keep you and your accountant from sweating at the end of the month because you won't have several unpaid invoices.

3. Take loans with manageable payment options: In addition to invoices to clients, your business will receive monthly billing statements
if you take out loans. These payments can put a strain on expanding your cash flow because you have to always meet these obligations first to avoid
strict penalties. When applying for loans, be sure to only take out the ones with reasonable terms that will give you at least a small cushion for
increasing your cash flow. Though a few exceptions exist, most of these loans will come with interest after a specified time period. Paying them off
early can save you money that can be put towards your cash flow.

We hope these tips help. Feel free to email us at leijun@campbellbusinessservices.com if you'd like more information on establishing positive cash flow.
We look forward to hearing from you!

As a small business owner or solopreneur, you pride yourself on being able to handle a variety of tasks from sales to marketing to human resources. However,
you occasionally find yourself in a situation that goes beyond your usual expertise such as financial management. Rather than try to push through and
make some serious mistakes, consider hiring a bookkeeper who can work with you on a regular basis to make sure everything is in sync. Think of them
as an asset to your team, a backup quarterback if you want to use a sports metaphor.

We'll give you some reasons below for bringing in a bookkeeper:

1. You can run your business and focus on the most crucial tasks - You have multiple customers and issues to deal with
throughout the day. If you're being honest with yourself, sitting down to go over financial documents and more in-depth details at the end of every
business day is nearly impossible. Even some of the best business owners and executives realize that delegation can be a lifesaver. Not only will hiring
a bookkeeper save you time, they will also save you money.

2. Bookkeepers can be hired for specific industries - Are you a real estate or insurance agency? Do you own a restaurant
or retail store? Bookkeepers understand most industries on a general level, but each one can focus on something much more specialized. Since they work
for multiple clients in an industry, they often understand current trends that should be followed and obscure rules that need to be observed.

3. You can hire them on a contract basis or full-time - Though you need to be aware of your company's budget and resources, some of the
best bookkeepers start as a contract worker and then can join the team to make your business even stronger. These contractors bring in crucial knowledge
and analysis for cash balances and expenditures every week or month, allowing you to build a relationship and trust that you may not have even expected.
Regardless, you will gain a better understanding of your company's financial management and be able to start planning for five years ahead rather than
just the end of the month.

For more information on how we can help you with your financial management, email us at leijun@campbellbusinessservices.com!

Operations Management, Sales & Marketing, Financial Management and Talent Management are the four practical processes your business needs to establish
from the beginning. See above for how these apply to your company and email leijun@campbellbusinessservices.com if we can help you in any way.

In any Small Business, there is a prevalent set of business processes that must exist for a strong foundation. These practical processes provide more than
a set of rules for you and your employees, but help create and solidify the consistency, efficiency and innovation of your company.

Here are four essential examples.

1) Of course the goal of a business is to make money; therefore, you need a strong process for your Financial Management. The size of your small business/solo venture will determine how extensive this will need to be. Take the initial steps of setting up a company
bank account, ordering a company credit card, choosing your bookkeeping software, creating a budget and documenting your financial procedures.
Using the right technology combined with the right professionals allows you to automate this process for the most accurate results, and knowing
the amount of assets, liabilities and equity your company has equips you to make smarter financial decisions.

2) In order to keep the cash flowing, every business needs to utilize a Sales & Marketing process
to keep their name in front of potential clients/customers and service then in good standing. Develop your brand through a mix of traditional approaches
and digital practices with a decidedly personal touch; your customers and clients want to know that they matter and that the information you provide
benefits them beyond the product or service. For sales, create and maintain a schedule of measurable objectives, goals, benchmarks and checkpoints
along with specific procedures for documenting new and current clients. However, give yourself and your sales staff the flexibility to adjust the
process if something isn’t working.

3) At some point even the solopreneur will find the need for outside help, and for those small businesses that rely on employees, a proficient
process for dealing with Talent Management will help ensure
less problems. If you haven’t already, create an employee handbook and//or specific orientation process for every new hire. Provide opportunities
for professional development and training as often as you can, so that all team members feel invested in the company, no matter how small or large
their role actually is. Have weekly, monthly or quarterly “all-staff” meetings as well as an open door policy for feedback and evaluations. Many
employees desire to know how they are performing in their position, but often feel too afraid to ask.

4) Finally, your company must have an exhaustive Operations Management process
that makes everything flow together, bringing all of the above into your products, the who, what, when and even why to your business. Establish
essential daily operation policies for employee benefits and sick leave/vacation time, create company objectives and select and cultivate healthy
relationships with your vendors. If need be, hire a reliable, coachable and client-oriented operations manager.

Last time, we provided you a checklist of things to have in place for healthy financial management. This week, we want to continue our discussion on financial
health for your business.

Why is it important to know your company’s overall financial health and to do checkups regularly? A good financial process will assist you in making
broader financial decisions as well as day-to-day decisions.

Consider the following items when evaluating your company’s financial health:

1) Review your Profit and Loss and Balance Sheet reports – Include any additional key players on your team in these reviews. Be sure they
understand these reports so they can offer input.

2) Start all monthly/quarterly meetings with a financial update - This keeps key team members in the know and helps explain targeted goals. Have
a consistent time and place as well as know who really needs to be in the room for each meeting.

3) Be aware of Sales Goals and Sales Pipelines - Have these in writing with clearly defined benchmarks. Comparing sales from last year to
this year can also help you keep track of any increased revenue.

4) Know the costs for your business - Have an understanding of how your company spends money and where cutbacks may be needed. Refer to
your yearly budget and consult experts. Sound financial information is beneficial when you are figuring prices and selecting what vendors you can
afford.

5) Continue planning for the future - You want to constantly be innovating new ways to add value to your company and customers. Know your
key services and products. Keep track of the ones that are most popular/profitable and analyze why they are successful. Your documented financial
management processes can also help you grow your business when you are ready to try new ventures.